If you want chicken for dinner, it can be cooked in many different ways and set on your table as KFC, roast chicken, BBQ chicken, curried chicken or in many other forms. Each preparation may look, smell and taste different but the nutrients and essence of all of these is the same chicken protein.
2 Timothy 3:15-17
15 and that from childhood you have known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus.
16 All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness,
17 that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work.
The Bible also is now available in many different versions and languages, but the essence of the Word of GOD that is translated by Godly people is the same.
Galatians 1:6-12
6 I marvel that you are turning away so soon from Him who called you in the grace of Christ, to a different gospel,
7 which is not another; but there are some who trouble you and want to pervert the gospel of Christ.
8 But even if we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel to you than what we have preached to you, let him be accursed.
9 As we have said before, so now I say again, if anyone preaches any other gospel to you than what you have received, let him be accursed.
10 For do I now persuade men, or God? Or do I seek to please men? For if I still pleased men, I would not be a bondservant of Christ.
11 But I make known to you, brethren, that the gospel which was preached by me is not according to man.
12 For I neither received it from man, nor was I taught it, but it came through the revelation of Jesus Christ.
Your choice of the chicken preparation will depend on the flavors you are used to and the condition of your taste buds and digestive system. So it is also with your choice of the language and version of the Bible.
2 Timothy 2:14-17
14 Remind them of these things, charging them before the Lord not to strive about words to no profit, to the ruin of the hearers.
15 Be diligent to present yourself approved to God, a worker who does not need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.
16 But shun profane and idle babblings, for they will increase to more ungodliness.
17 And their message will spread like cancer. Hymenaeus and Philetus are of this sort,
As long as your digestive system is healthy, you should be able to enjoy most of the versions and benefit by them. The GOD of the Word will teach you His Word and the Holy Spirit in you will guide you into all truth.
2 Timothy 2:23-25
23 But avoid foolish and ignorant disputes, knowing that they generate strife.
24 And a servant of the Lord must not quarrel but be gentle to all, able to teach, patient,
25 in humility correcting those who are in opposition, if God perhaps will grant them repentance, so that they may know the truth,
2 Peter 3:16-18
16 as also in all his epistles, speaking in them of these things, in which are some things hard to understand, which untaught and unstable people twist to their own destruction, as they do also the rest of the Scriptures.
17 You therefore, beloved, since you know this beforehand, beware lest you also fall from your own steadfastness, being led away with the error of the wicked;
18 but grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To Him be the glory both now and forever. Amen.
When you sit at the table for a chicken feast, first make sure that the chicken itself is not bad. For example, the Bibles of the Mormons and of the Jehovah's witnesses are perverted and do not portray the truth of the Word of GOD.
2 Timothy 4:3-5
3 For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but according to their own desires, because they have itching ears, they will heap up for themselves teachers;
4 and they will turn their ears away from the truth, and be turned aside to fables.
5 But you be watchful in all things, endure afflictions, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry.
2 Peter 2:18-19
18 For when they speak great swelling words of emptiness, they allure through the lusts of the flesh, through lewdness, the ones who have actually escaped from those who live in error.
19 While they promise them liberty, they themselves are slaves of corruption; for by whom a person is overcome, by him also he is brought into bondage.
A rich man will have many preparations of chicken on his table and will pick and choose and be fussy. A poor man will value whatever portion of Scripture he may possess and will eagerly study the Word, be it KJV, NIV, EASV or NLT. GOD will speak to him through it.
The nourishment the body receives with the chicken is more important than the smell of the roast, the appearance of the stir fry or the taste of the KFC. Whenever you read the Bible, whether it is the KJV, RSV, NIV or NASB, allow the Word Of GOD to nourish your soul through the revelation of the truth by the Holy Spirit.
Hebrews 4:12-13
12 For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.
13 And there is no creature hidden from His sight, but all things are naked and open to the eyes of Him to whom we must give account.
Do not let knowledge puff your soul but allow GOD'S Spirit to change your heart with His love through His Word. Thus you will avoid arguments and rifts that arise from differences in preferences of versions.
2 Corinthians 3:1-6 (NKJV)
1 Do we begin again to commend ourselves? Or do we need, as some others, epistles of commendation to you or letters of commendation from you?
2 You are our epistle written in our hearts, known and read by all men;
3 clearly you are an epistle of Christ, ministered by us, written not with ink but by the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of flesh, that is, of the heart.
4 And we have such trust through Christ toward God.
5 Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think of anything as being from ourselves, but our sufficiency is from God,
6 who also made us sufficient as ministers of the new covenant, not of the letter but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.
1 Corinthians 8:1
1 Now concerning things offered to idols: We know that we all have knowledge. Knowledge puffs up, but love edifies.
If the preparation of chicken is not digesting well in you or causing you to be sick, you will need to look to another preparation. It does not mean that you start condemning that particular preparation of chicken because it might work well for others!
For you, brethren, have been called to liberty; only do not use liberty as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another. For all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this: "You shall love your neighbor as yourself." But if you bite and devour one another, beware lest you be consumed by one another!
Galatians 5:13-15
Let us enjoy a good fellowship while we enjoy a chicken treat together!
Let us eat the chicken and not devour each other!!
Are you mature enough to sit around a table and joyously and with love
discuss the Scriptures with brethren whose interpretation of certain parts of the word may be different to yours?
The heart is a more important organ than the brain. Therefore let us keep our heart with all diligence, for out of it springs the issues of life.
For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you again the first principles of the oracles of God; and you have come to need milk and not solid food. For everyone who partakes only of milk is unskilled in the word of righteousness, for he is a babe. But solid food belongs to those who are of full age, that is, those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil.
Hebrews 5:12-14
When you observe an individual's attitude and his ways, even while discussing Bible versions, you will be able to discern as to who is reading and studying the correct version! The one who is listening to others' views, displaying patience, speaking with wisdom and love is for sure being well nourished in his soul with the correct version of Scripture! Therefore the Bible you read with humility and spiritual hunger will nourish your soul through the Holy Spirit.
The best interpretation of the word of GOD that others read is the life of Christians.
I should ask myself, "Is the 'Rebecca Version' of the Bible effectively revealing the word of GOD to others?"
Then Jesus said to those Jews who believed Him,
"If you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed.
And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free." John 8:31-32
